“Are you okay? Did it hurt you?” he asked.
The stunned girl uncovered her teary face. “I want my mommy.”
“Thank God.” Aaron turned around looking for the cat. The guard blocked his way.
“What you think this is, a Roadrunner episode? Take your stupid cat and get out of here.”
“No time.” Aaron spun around one of the eggs and leapt off the platform. He hopped over the barrier, something the big man couldn’t do so easily. He spotted the cat darting toward the big red roller coaster and followed.
Most of the coaster soared several stories high, although sections of it dipped within 10 feet of the ground. The cat, if the aliens got its bearings down, could climb the scaffolding out of Aaron’s reach, but well within striking of the unsuspecting riders.
The cat squeezed between the protective barrier and in between the tall white bracers that supported the red tracks high above. Ignoring the guard’s protests, and everything his mother ever taught him, Aaron threw himself over the barrier and into the middle of the roller coaster. It circled him at 50 miles per hour. The coaster plunged down the steepest drop, with the kids and teens screaming and raising their hands in the air. The cat waited below to pounce as it reached its lowest point.
30
The possessed Gary’s forearm pressed against Moni’s throat and squeezed, cutting off her oxygen. With his bicep trapping the back of her head, he clasped his hands together and cranked, putting tremendous pressure on her neck. She tried peeling apart his grip. It held firm. Her vision started getting spotty.
The aliens had just taken hold of him. They knew how the human body worked, but they didn’t have time to enhance his fitness yet. Moni punched him in the ribs, making a cracking sound. The man choking her from beneath maintained his grip. She reared her arm back to strike again, but it flopped limply. She had faded out for a moment.
“Stop fighting us. Sleep now and it won’t hurt anymore.”
Moni tucked her chin and turned into the choke, buying herself a few more seconds. She flipped over her head and landed on her back so that they lay parallel, head to head, taking the pressure off her neck. Moni rolled toward his face, which popped her head free. She drove her fist into his gut. He brought his knee up into a painful meeting with the top of her skull.
Moni stumbled back. The infected man sprung to his feet with much more agility than ticket booth Gary ever could. She went headhunting with a looping right hand, but he ducked under it, drove his shoulder into her stomach and lifted both her legs off the ground. He slammed Moni down on her back on the unforgiving parking lot.
The cat leapt at the coaster as it reached the bottom of its dive. Aaron fully extended his body through the air and swatted the possessed feline on the back. A massive displacement of air whooshed by Aaron as the coaster narrowly missed him. His shoulder barreled into the scaffolding beneath the tracks. He rolled over in the dirt, his shoulder throbbing and swiveled his head around searching for the cat. The coaster sped around with the riders excited, but not freaked out. Aaron sighed in relief. It didn’t last long.
He spotted the cat fifteen feet away, its face half black fur and half peeled off, revealing cheek bones and purple gums. It must have gotten a makeover from the wrong side of the coaster. If a ton of metal couldn’t break that thing, what could he do?
The cat placed its paws together, lowered its head and raised its hind quarters. Even the aliens knew the universal cat attack stance. Its eyes focused on Aaron.
“How about I get you a can of tuna?” he asked. The clawed critter stalked him down. “Oh shit.” He spun around and bolted.
Aaron headed for the nearest barrier. With a rip and a yank of his collar across his throat, his progress abruptly halted. His shirt had caught on a loose screw on the scaffolding. The cat quickly closed the distance. Aaron slipped out of his shirt as the cat sprang at him. Its claws caught in his new threads, shredding them but giving Aaron time to leap the barrier. When he landed, a bloated, sweaty pair of hands caught him.
“You’re fucking loco!” the security guard said as he grabbed Aaron in a bear hug. “You could have killed those people.”
“Get off me!” Aaron tried wiggling free. His sweat-drenched body couldn’t slip out of the guard’s grasp. In the corner of his eye, he saw the cat tear its way out of his hanging shirt. In a panic, he gouged the guard’s eye with his thumb. Yelling Spanish curses, the guard released him and covered his face. Aaron raced off, too afraid to see how closely the infected cat followed on his heels. He headed towards a square building that housed the bathrooms. As much as it tempted him to lock himself inside alone, Aaron knew what that would mean for everyone at the amusement park. He’d rather have the final confrontation with that purple hair ball where no one else would get hurt. Well, no one besides him.
Aaron pushed the restroom door. It didn’t budge. The sign said, “Closed for repairs.” He pivoted around. Before he could take another step, he saw the cat, its purple eyes fixated upon him.
Moni coughed up blood and phlegm as her chest cavity throbbed, yet she resisted the reflex to spit and instead swallowed it back down. The infected man ground his heavy belly upon her and wailed away. Moni caught a few fists to the side of the head, making her vision flash like a light switch, before she grabbed control of his wrists and locked her knees around him, controlling his posture.
His face had the same features as before, yet it couldn’t be mistaken for him. The cold expression, the zealous eyes, they resembled something so alien, not even a fully functioning alien but a machine, a tiny machine that saw all living organisms as old cars that it could strip and discard. It regarded her as the only being standing in its way of fulfilling the mission ingrained into its core.
It grabbed her face, digging its fingers into her nostrils. Forming a mental connection with it, she heard the voice commanding it from outside its head, “Rip off her face. Keep digging until you scoop out her brain with your fingers.”
Moni tugged at his wrist, keeping his fingers from plunging further down her nose. She felt him gaining strength by the second as the nanobots fueled his muscles. They didn’t care if his heart exploded as long as he killed her first. The fingers in her nose narrowed. They started elongating. Just like how she’d realigned her jaw, the aliens were turning his fingers into probes.
“I kinda like my brain so keep your hands to yourself.”
She swung her arm across her chest and delivered a back elbow to his attacking hand. That broke it free of her nose. He reared back and cocked his fist. Moni placed her feet on his hips and kicked him back, buying her separation from him, but not enough to stand, or get out of range of his hammering punch. Moni spun on her back, moving her head away from his fist as it bounced off the pavement. She put her head against his leg, seized his ankle and tucked it into her underarm. Moni rolled until she had both her legs wrapped like a grapevine around one single leg. The pressure made his foot bend parallel with his leg. She arched her back, creating a sickening pop in the joint.
Not showing any discouragement, Gary grabbed a broom stick and whacked her arm. Moni released the hold and nursed her sore elbow. She backed off. The man tried standing, but that didn’t work with one ankle out of socket. He swung at her from one knee. Moni kicked the center of the broom stick in mid-swing, snapping it in two. Her next kick caught him on the side of the head and sounded like a watermelon getting booted.
While watching his eyes roll back in his head, Moni heard disturbing thoughts from inside the casino. Someone had seen them on the cameras. They had called security, armed security.
Moni scooped the infected man upon her shoulders in a fireman’s carry. She hurried beside the dumpster, where the damn hamburger that started all this still resided. With a hard swing, Moni tossed his body over the open dumpster while keeping a firm grip on his head. She yanked his head down with all her weight behind it, crushing his neck on the me
tal lip.
It snapped. There’d be no getting up from that. Even so, the aliens lived within his bloodstream, anxious that a new host would stumble upon them.
Staring at his broken body devoid of human thoughts, Moni remembered the man he’d been before. Gary was just another guy doing his job, not expecting to run into a nightmare like her. He had a family, grandchildren. Could she explain to them why he had to die, why she’s responsible?
She heard thoughts from inside the casino. “She killed him! We need the whole security team.”
If she didn’t move soon, she’d have to leave a hole in more families. She couldn’t just leave Gary there.
His back against the locked restroom door and the agile cat too close for him to skirt around, Aaron thought of Moni. He didn’t know if she could hear his thoughts as she had another fight on her hands, but he had to give her a chance.
If you can hear this Moni, don’t trust me next time you see me. I’ll probably be infected. Sorry. His heart ached as he struggled with the words in his head. If I don’t see you again, remember, I’ve never loved another woman more than I love you.
The cat’s mangled face curled into a snarl, exposing sharp teeth and a rough tongue marinating in purple saliva. It rocked back on its hind legs, ready to spring forth. Aaron flailed his arms and his hand grabbed the first object he found. The infected cat pounced at Aaron with all claws extended. He whipped the trash can in front of his chest. The momentum of the cat depositing itself in the trash can knocked Aaron’s back into the wall and sent a jolt up his aching shoulder. He quickly dove forward and flipped the can upside down with the cat underneath.
Aaron pressed his weight atop the trash can. The possessed critter pummeled the aluminum, but it couldn’t break through. Even a cat on alien steroids had its limits.
“I got you now, asshole,” shouted the guard as he waddled toward Aaron with a plastic bat in hand, probably swiped from one of the carnival games. His left eye, the one Aaron had dug his thumb into, was swollen shut. Despite his appearance, this was no laughing matter. This 280-pound lug could push Aaron off his newfound kitty containment system.
“It’s cool, man. I caught him,” Aaron said.
“And I caught you!” He cracked Aaron on his bare back with the plastic bat. It stung, but not enough to unleash the horror underneath the can. The guard struck him harder. “You’re lucky there are kids around. Otherwise, I’d use a real bat, you skinny piñata.”
“Put the bat away Babe Ruth’s El Gordo grandson,” Aaron said. “Unless you want this rabid cat on the loose scratching your guests, back the hell off.”
At least two cell phones captured the confrontation. Aaron hoped the news wouldn’t pick this off social media. His dad didn’t need more evidence that he was a dumbass.
He heard furious clawing at the ground. The cat’s paws dug away the dirt at the base of the can. Before he could think, the hole widened to the size of an apple. The cat stuck its head through. Aaron kicked its fur brain back inside and dragged the can away from the hole. A woman watching with her two children gasped.
“You’re traumatizing our guests,” the guard said. “Both of you get out before I have you arrested.”
“I want to leave, but I can’t let my cat escape and bite people. That would be even worse for business.”
The cat went right back to digging. Aaron couldn’t play this game every square foot. Leaning his elbow atop the can, Aaron peeled off his shoes and shimmied out of his jeans. Even more women gasped. Wearing only his blue boxers and socks, Aaron tied the bottom legs of his pants in a knot and closed the zipper and buttons.
“What are you, a pervert?” the guard asked as phone cameras flashed.
“If you want me off your property, hand me the trash lid.” Aaron pointed to the plastic lid near the bathroom door. As the guard retrieved it, Aaron waited for the cat to complete its hole. It poked its head out, followed by its front legs. Aaron dove upon it and bagged the cat in his jeans. He swung them buttons up, making the cat fall down his pants leg. The knot held. Thank you three weeks of Boy Scouts.
Using his belt like a tourniquet around the thigh section of the jeans, Aaron ensured the cat had no room to move. It clawed and bit, but the tough fabric held, for now. Before long, its acidic bodily fluid would burn through, permanently ruining his threads.
“That’s animal cruelty,” one woman complained. Aaron turned to scoff at her, but met her male companion, whose body builder arms put Aaron’s swimmer’s physique to shame.
“Sorry about this. Rabid cat. I’ll be moving on now.” Aaron deposited the jean-wrapped cat into the trash can. “Lid?” The puzzled security guard handed it to him and Aaron sealed evil kitty away. He scooped it up with both hands and nodded at the guard, who eyed him in disgust. “Sorry about your eye, dude. Could’a been worse, believe me.”
The guard eyed the plastic bat on the ground, no doubt wishing he could pummel him with a real one. “Let me show your ass out. Believe it or not, there’s an exit here beside the fence.”
After marching out of the amusement park with the kiddie’s laughing at his half-naked body, Aaron emerged into the parking lot. He looked at the casino across the street. He saw black smoke.
31
Moni rolled up to Aaron in the Prius as he ran through the amusement park’s lot in his boxers and socks carrying a tightly lidded trash can. Her eyes wide, she hit the brakes.
“My momma always told me not to pick up half-naked hitchhikers, but I don’t think she ever met one who looked like you. Step on in.”
Aaron opened the door but kept his hands clasped around the trash can. She heard something thrashing inside and, sure enough, detected the mental signature of the infected cat.
“Would you like Mrs. Cat Demon in the back seat or the trunk?” he asked.
“May I pet her first?”
He nodded. Moni wedged open the lid and quickly shoved her hand inside. She wrapped her fingers around its neck as it struggled. Seconds later, it wasn’t in one piece.
“You got it?” Aaron’s cheeks flushed red as he placed the inglorious feline coffin in the back seat.
She responded with a mock pout.
“Finally. Hey, what about the smoke over there?”
“I had a little dumpster barbeque with an infected corpse and a burger on the side. Kitty’s next on the menu, but we need to hold that picnic elsewhere, and restock on gasoline because I poured the whole can on Gary. Security’s all over the scene now.”
“Damn. Did they see you?”
“On video, but they won’t match me to facial recognition software, at least not 100 percent.”
Aaron didn’t say it out loud, but Moni heard his thoughts worrying that this incident wouldn’t go away quietly, for either of them. He hopped into the passenger seat and immediately noticed the bag of casino cash at his feet.
“At least you didn’t forget this,” Aaron said. “We’ve got some shopping to do and we better get to it before our faces end up on the news.”
“Just what I need. Two of my faces on the news.” She sped away from the amusement park, heading for El Paso. “And another innocent death to my name.”
“Quit blaming yourself.” He reached his hand toward her but stopped short. Aaron noticed how sweaty she was and remembered what a single drop from her skin could do to him. He handed her a towel to wipe off.
“And I almost got you killed. I should never have let you chase that cat.”
“No, you made the right call. If I hadn’t run after it, hundreds of people would be infected, mostly kids.”
She eyed her shirtless man, singling out his most captivating features, his dazzling eyes and perfect cheekbones. “I can’t lose you. Even if it’s too dangerous for us to be together, I can’t live in a world without you in it.”
“Moni. I…” She listened for his thoughts. He couldn’t form them. Instead, he changed the subject. “In Florida, you ordered the aliens to
abandon the lagoon and all infected creatures. They listened to you then, but you can’t even save one man here. What happened?”
Her bittersweet victory in Florida came after she’d wrestled sole control of the alien network from the dying Mariella. The network always obeyed the most powerful brain in tune with it. The explanation was simple. Yet, she couldn’t accept it. She’d been so careful, or tried to.
Moni weighed whether she could tell him. Of course she could trust Aaron. She didn’t want to disappoint him. This was about more than that. He needed to know for his safety.
“There might be another infected person out there.”
32
Nina Skillings stood with her fists clenched and her chest tight in the very spot where Moni had walked five hours ago. The woman responsible for the scars on her face, the death of her brothers in blue and the collapse of her town, had set foot on the pavement of this parking lot, had strolled down the halls of this tacky casino, endangering hundreds of people by her mere presence. True to Moni’s form, she had left a corpse in her wake.
Nina could almost pick up her scent on the air, reminding her of the gut-turning stench of the contaminated lagoon. She imagined what she’d have done had she waited here, catching Moni and her boy lackey unprepared as they approached the dumpster. She’d have saved the casino employee.
Instead, his charred body smoldered in the burned out trash crate, identifiable only because they caught it on video.
“You sure it’s Moni?” asked Cam Carter, as he examined the video still of her face on his tablet. “The facial recognition software called it a 60 percent match.”
“That’s her. I know how she moves.” Nina glanced across the police tape at the TV cameras shining lights into her eyes. She turned her back on them. With the local cops relegated to guarding the perimeter and a black-suited FBI team and biohazard unit on site, the media had plenty of clues that this wasn’t a routine murder. “And the jockey thrown from his horse today, I know that was her too.”
Silence the Living Page 16
